This invention relates to a support rack for use in cooking food items. More particularly, the invention reltates to a multipurpose cooking rack which can support meat and vegetable items whether of large or small pieces and can be used in an upright or inverted position in order to accommodate the various sizes of food items. The multipurpose cooking rack of this invention is especially suited for use in conjunction with a gas grill.
There are currently available various types of cooking racks in different geometric configurations. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,205,064 as well as U.S. Pat. No. 2,616,360 there are shown racks with a generally V-shaped configuration. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,205,064 the V-shaped body of the rack is supported by U-shaped support legs. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,616,360 there is indicated a rack which can be raised or lowered on separate leg members. This rack is indicated for use in supporting various types of food items. An inverted rack is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,188 but it is specifically directed to cooking specific items. U.S. Pat. No. 4,612,851 shows a cooking utensil which is especially adapted for use over a charcoal or a gas-fired grill. U.S. Pat. No. 1,969,601 describes a rack for cooking potatoes while U.S. Pat. No. 3,986,445 illustrates a rack for use in insertion in the body of an animal for cooking. U.S. Pat. Nos. Des. 195,687 and 260,227 show U-shaped and V-shaped cooking racks, respectively.
The prior art does not provide a multipurpose cooking rack which is especially adapted for cooking a variety of food items and is designed to be inverted and supported by handles for this purpose.
It is an advantage of the present invention to provide a cooking rack which in a single rack structure can accommodate different food items of various sizes.
It is another advantage of this invention to provide a cooking rack having opposing handle portions for manipulating the rack as well as for support thereof.
It is still another advantage of the present invention to provide a multipurpose cooking rack of the foregoing type which is useful in various types of cooking apparatus including a gas barbecue grill.
It is yet another advantage of the invention to provide a cooking rack of the foregoing type which is readily manufactured with existing tooling and in an economical manner.